Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to a method of cleaning plumbing fixtures. More particularly it relates to a method of cleaning toilet bowls and urinals which alleviates the need for scrubbing or manually wiping the basin to work in the cleaner.
A variety of toilet bowl cleaners are known which are intended to be used by scrubbing them against a toilet basin. In some cases the cleaners are liquids that are squirted from a bottle against the basin (e.g. xe2x80x9cLiquid Toilet Duckxe2x80x9d sold by S. C. Johnson and Son, Inc.). In other cases the cleaners are aerosol sprays that are sprayed against the side of the basin (e.g. xe2x80x9cVanishxe2x80x9d toilet bowl cleaner sold by S. C. Johnson and Son, Inc.).
It is also known in the art to provide a product that is sprayed against a shower or bathtub wall immediately after the use of the shower or bathtub which keeps the tub or shower cleaner without the need for wiping. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,022 (see also the related U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,536,452 and 5,587,664, and the related PCT publications WO 96/22346 and WO 98/02511).
However, toilet and urinal basins are designed to receive contaminated waste. Even after flushing)the basins often sit partially filled with hard water that contains minerals that can stain a bowl (e.g. leave a ring). Existing cleaning formulations that are designed to keep showers or bathtubs relatively clean without scrubbing are ineffective for toilet basins and urinals.
A variety of techniques have been developed for delivering cleaning compounds via the flush water that sits in a toilet bowl. However, delivering the cleaning solution to the water of the bowl in this way dilutes the cleaning material. Moreover, such systems are less effective for the portion of the bowl above the water line.
With respect to urinals, blocks of disinfecting materials have been positioned near the outlet of the basin, sometimes in or on top of ice. However, such materials are not designed to clean the side walls of the basin.
In that the prior art has not to date provided a satisfactory way of cleaning the side walls of a toilet or urinal basin which alleviates the need for scrubbing or wiping a cleaner against the basin, sponges, brushes and the like that have been contaminated with toilet bowl water and cleaner still need to be stored between uses.
Thus, a need exists for improved methods of cleaning toilet bowls and urinals.
In one aspect the invention provides a method of cleaning a basin of a plumbing fixture selected from the group consisting of toilet bowl and urinal basins. Such basins have a drain opening and a side wall portion extending upwardly therefrom. One applies a cleaning composition containing at least water and a surfactant to the side wall portion other than via flush water. One then, allows the cleaning composition to remain on the side wall portion for at least one half hour (preferably at least an hour, even more preferably at least six hours) after it is applied. The method is completed without the cleaning composition being scrubbed against or manually wiped against the wall, and without the composition being completely rinsed off the wall during the period.
The surfactant can be any of the known anionic, nonionic, cationic or zwitterionic surfactants that are suitable for use in a toilet bowl environment, albeit a mixture of either nonionic and anionic, or nonionic and cationic, surfactants is preferred for this purpose.
In a further aspect, the basin is a toilet bowl basin having a top portion, and the cleaning composition is applied at least between the top portion and a normal xe2x80x9cwater linexe2x80x9d of the basin (the normal fill level of the basin).
The cleaning composition is preferably delivered via a spray so that the cleaning composition will in large part adhere to the bowl sides above the water (rather than primarily running down into the bowl water). A pump sprayer can be used to deliver the material, or the material can be combined with an aerosol gas propellant (such as propane, butane, isobutane, and mixtures thereof) and then delivered from an aerosol can.